Republican State Committee of Pennsylvania

The Republican State Committee of Pennsylvania, also known as the Republican Party of Pennsylvania (PA GOP), is the affiliate of the Republican Party in the US state of Pennsylvania. The party was founded on 27 November 1854 in Towanda, Bradford County by former Congressman David Wilmot. Wilmot had the attendees of the party's founding conference form Republican clubs in their home counties, leading to the party's strength growing. From the start of the American Civil War in 1861 until the mid-1930s, the Republicans dominated state politics, but the growing influence of labor and urbanization and the implementation of the New Deal ended Republican control over Pennsylvania. The Republicans were very competitive, however, and they held the majority of the state's seats in the US House of Representatives, the majority of State Senate seats, and the majority of State House seats. The party was strongest in the rural areas of Pennsylvania, while the Pennsylvania Democratic Party was firmly in control of the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas.